Nursery lamp



M. DUDA NURSERY LAMP May 12, 1953 Filed Feb. 25, 1949 INVENTOR. file/add v flzzda BY di o W N w w 1 Patented May 12, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NURSERY LAMP MichaelDuda, Newark, N. J. Application February 25, 1949, Serial No. 78,415 4Claims. (o1. 240 1o) 1 My invention relates to a nursery lamp or the like and aims to provide a novel construction of such device.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a device of the character described which will have a base or body portion of a form which has appeal to children of tender years, and which body portion has at least one articulated member, manual movement of which will operate a concealed switch for controlling the illumination of the lamp and said switch will function to hold the articulated member in the position to which it has been moved.

A further object is to provide a nursery lamp or the like having a body portion of a form to simulate an animal, doll or the like, having an articulated member, manual movement of which, in addition to operating a concealed switch for controlling the illumination of the lamp, will operate to move some other element or elementsof' the animal, for example, the animals eyes, to open and close them as the lamp is switched on and ofi, respectively.

A further object is to provide a nursery lamp in which, through a lost motion connection between the articulated member and the switch, the eyes of the animal will be made to simulate a progressive opening and closing just prior to the operation of the switch to turn on or turn oil the lamp.

The accomplishment of the foregoing and other objects of my invention not specifically'enumerated, willbe more fully appreciated and understood from the detailed description which follows, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, and wherein- Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a nursery lamp embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 shows a fractional view of Fig. 1 with one of the elephants ears removed to better illustrate the st motion connection between an articulated member of the elephant and the concealed light switch.

Fig. 3 shows a cross-section taken substantially along the plane of the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 4 and 5 show detailed views of the eyeoperating means, with the eyes in open and closed position, respectively.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the invention as applied to a nursery lamp having a base or body portion in the form of an elephant l which supports a standard 2 to which is connected a lamp socket 3 provided with an incandescent electric lamp 4 over which a lamp shade 5 may be supported in any well known manner. It will be appreciated, however, that said body portion may be of any form simulating an object which has appeal to children of tender years.

The elephant herein shown may be formed of any suitable or desirable material and comprises a body portion 6, legs 1, ears 8, a head 9 and a trunk ID. The head 9 and trunk II! are preferably formed as an integral unit, the head being pivotally mounted by a pin ll extending through the ears so as to bemanually movablewithrespect to the body of the elephant.

Mounted within the body portion 5 to be concealed thereby, is an electric snap switch l2 having a pivoted operating lever [3, the switch being of conventional form and beingprovided with securing brackets I 4 which are fastened to the body of the elephant by screws or equivalent means I 5. For operating the switch, the rear of the head is formed with a socket or recess IE to engage over the lever l3, said socket being of a size and form such that, as the head 9 is pivoted about the pin II by manual movement'o'f the trunk Ill from one to theother of its two limiting positions, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a certain amount-of lost motion takes place between the movement of the head and the switch lever before the latter is engaged and operated to its switch on or switch off position and, when so operated, the lever l3 will function to hold the head and trunk in the position to which it has been manually moved;

The head of the elephant is formed with eye sockets 11 within which eye elements, herein shown as the pupils l8, are movable and visible. The pupils I8 are mounted within the head on pins l9 so as to be rotatable and are connected by hooks 20 on the ends Zla of a T or Y link 2! fixedly mounted to the body of the elephant, as shown at 22. It will thus be seen that as the head is moved about the pivot pin l l the pupils will be rotated. By appropriately ornamenting different portions of the exterior of each pupil to simulate an open and a closed eye, it will be appreciated that when the trunk and head are in one position such as shown in Fig. 1, the eyes will have the appearance of being closed, and when the trunk is moved to the position shown in Fig. 2 the eyes will have the appearance of being open. It will also be appreciated that in view of the lost motion connection between the head and the switch lever l2, the movement of the trunk from one to the other of its limiting positions will impart to the eyes a simulation of the progressive opening and closing thereof, just prior to the switch being operated. In other words, when the trunk is moved downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 2, with the elephants eyes open and the switch in on position, to the position shown in Fig. l, the movement of the trunk will cause a simulation of the progressive closing of the elephants eyes and will show a complete closing thereof just as the switch is turned off and the lamp 4 goes out. Just the reverse of this operation will take place when the elephants trunk is moved upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 2.

For supplying electric current to the lamp 4 through the switch l2, suitable wiring (not shown) is provided within the body or base of the lamp, and current may be supplied through the wiring 23 and outlet connection plug 2%.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be appreciated that I have provided a novel nursery lamp which should have appeal to children of tender years especially because of the fact that by movement of the elephants trunk from its upper to lower position and the resultant action upon the eyes of the elephant and the lamp, the child will be apprised of the fact that it is. time to go to sleep.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of m invention it is to be understood that the. same is merely by way of example and that changes in the form of the. lamp base and the. specific articulatable members may be made within the range of mechanical or engineering skill, without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A nursery lamp or the like having a base portion in the form of an animal, said base portion comprising-a fixed member and a plurality of articulated members an electric lamp supported by said base portion, a concealed snap switch within said base portion for controlling, the illumination of said lamp, a first one of said articulated members being. manually movable. to

either of two limiting positions relatively to the fixed membenmeans on said manually'movable member for operatingthe switch when said manually movable member is moved to its limiting positions, a second one of said articulated members being an eye element of the animal, said eye element having spaced portions thereof orna-- merited. to simulate an open and a closed eye means operably connecting the eye element with the manually movable member for. movement relative thereto, and means connected to the fixed member and to the eye element for causing movement of the eye element relative to themanually movablet member: to present the ornamented. open and" closed eye portions thereof into .4 view to simulate the opening and closing of the eye as the manually movable member is moved relatively to the fixed member.

2. A nursery lamp according to claim 1 wherein the means on the manually movable member for operating the switch remains inactive during movement of said manually movable member between its limiting positions whereat the switch is actuated and wherein the means for causing movement of the eye element relative to the manually'movable element progressively moves the eye element during the inactive period of the manually movable member to simulate the progressive opening or closing of the eye just prior to the actuation of the switch.

3'. A. nursery lamp according to claim 1 wherein the articulated eye element is pivotally mounted in the manually movable member and the means for causing movement of the eye element is a fixed link carried by the base portion and connected to the eye element whereby said eye element is rotated as the manually movable member is moved relatively to the base portion.

4. A nursery lamp or the like having a base portion in the form of an elephant, the head and trunk of which as a unit are manually articulatable relatively to the body, a lamp and a snap switch for controlling the illumination of said lamp supported by the body, said head having therein a pair of eye sockets, a pair of eye elements pivotally mounted. in said sockets for rotation relatively thereto, spaced portions on said eye element being ornamented to simulate an open and a closedeye, means for causing pivotal movement of the eye elements relative to the eye sockets in the head, cooperating. means on the head and on the switch for operating the latter as the head is moved, manual movement of. the unit of the. head and trunk operating to simultaneously move the eye elements to present the ornamented open and closed eye portions thereof into view to simulate the open and closed position of the eyes, respectively, as the switch is opened and closed.

MICHAEL DUDA.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,300,361 Edelrnan Apr. 15, 1919 1,325,986 Garami et al Dec. 23, 1919 1,454,799 Usher May 8, 1923' 1,528,840 I Muller Mar. 10, 1925' 1,693,157 Rauffus Nov. 27, 1928' 2,310,037 Reno Feb. 2', 1943 2,445,079 Petersdorf July 13, 1948 

